Kristina Walton
April 23, 2015
Undercover Mothers
The role of women in nineteenth century literature seems pretty basic. The women were to bear children while simultaneously tending to their homes and husbands. Though it seems pretty cut and dry, for women, authors such as Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker played with the idea of a role reversal. In their books Frankenstein and Dracula, many male characters take on female roles. One of the more absurd roles is the idea of male characters as mothers. Both of the novels imply male characters as such, leaving the novel and characters in distress. I am going to explore the idea of why male mothers, though appealing to read about, do not work. In Frankenstein, the lack of a female creation, and the lack of a female mother figure is what develops the hate and anguish throughout the entire novel. John Allmon writes, “In Frankenstein we find a world without mothers almost from the very beginning…” as the story begins, Frankenstein tells Walton the entirety of his life (Allmon, 125). He tells Walton about his mother, who grew up without a mother, then about how his own mother adopted a young child, Elizabeth, who also didn’t have a mother. From …show more content…
Instead of acting on this like a mother would, Frankenstein ran. “Frankenstein continues to run from his creation, never once really considering that the monster has a mind, a sensitivity, a soul of its own (Allmon, 125).” Frankenstein goes about his life without giving any nurture or attention to his creation, leaving the creation longing for a female to “connect himself to the ‘chain of existence’” (Allmon, 125), which causes the monster to act out. The lack of nurturing and caring goes to show just how awful male mothering truly
April 23, 2015
Undercover Mothers
The role of women in nineteenth century literature seems pretty basic. The women were to bear children while simultaneously tending to their homes and husbands. Though it seems pretty cut and dry, for women, authors such as Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker played with the idea of a role reversal. In their books Frankenstein and Dracula, many male characters take on female roles. One of the more absurd roles is the idea of male characters as mothers. Both of the novels imply male characters as such, leaving the novel and characters in distress. I am going to explore the idea of why male mothers, though appealing to read about, do not work. In Frankenstein, the lack of a female creation, and the lack of a female mother figure is what develops the hate and anguish throughout the entire novel. John Allmon writes, “In Frankenstein we find a world without mothers almost from the very beginning…” as the story begins, Frankenstein tells Walton the entirety of his life (Allmon, 125). He tells Walton about his mother, who grew up without a mother, then about how his own mother adopted a young child, Elizabeth, who also didn’t have a mother. From …show more content…
Instead of acting on this like a mother would, Frankenstein ran. “Frankenstein continues to run from his creation, never once really considering that the monster has a mind, a sensitivity, a soul of its own (Allmon, 125).” Frankenstein goes about his life without giving any nurture or attention to his creation, leaving the creation longing for a female to “connect himself to the ‘chain of existence’” (Allmon, 125), which causes the monster to act out. The lack of nurturing and caring goes to show just how awful male mothering truly